11 March 2007

An unexpected call

I just got a phone call from Kuwait. The call bounced over a sat-link to USA landlines and from the cell tower to my cell phone and from the phone to my bluetooth earpiece. Got all that? Pretty cool, huh.

It was Jeff calling. He is stationed in Kuwait during this current war. I first met Jeff when he was 12 and I was a much younger 25. He was part of the youth group with which I worked while in seminary. It was among the happiest four years of my life. Jeff and the whole rest of the youth group regularly tried to drown me. I learned so much from the people in the community. . .including Jeff's parents and grandparents. . . .and from the teenagers.

But I digress. This was Jeff on the phone. . .who has grown into a married man with three kids of his own.

He had some things on his mind and I listened. He had some funny stories to tell. Here is one:

Jeff and a few of his buddies were at a mall in Kuwait city. They asked a man for directions to the bathroom. The man at first didn't understand them. . .then he gave vague directions to go upstairs and to the right. Jeff and his friends went to the right and saw a door with the picture of a man and a crescent moon on it. They went inside and found a second door with the same sign. The foyer was full of shoes, so Jeff decided that in Kuwait, you might have to take off your shoes to go to the bathroom. The men took off their shoes and entered the room. . . .which was a mosque. They put on their shoes and got out of there ASAP.

Heh.

I am so proud of Jeff. . .for who he is and for what he does. . .he is a good and decent man who has many friends. He is wealthy with friends.

I told him I love him when we hung up. It was after 1 am over there. I will carry his face in front of me in my prayers.